The organic controversy in the cosmetics industry  

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The word ‘organic’ describes neither a concept, theme nor marketing ploy; it refers to an agricultural method. In skin care and cosmetic manufacture, ‘organic’ refers to ingredients such as herbs, flowers, plant oils, the earth's minerals, seaweed, beeswax etc., which have been grown, processed or extracted from living nature without the use of chemical pesticides, fungicides, growth regulators or stimulants and without having undergone any processing, e.g. an ingredient remaining in its unrefined state.
The word ‘natural’ means existing in or formed by nature without human intervention. This refers to ingredients such as naturally occurring minerals and plant extracts, not Ammonium Laureth Sulfate, Decyl Poly glucose and cyclopolymethicone. And yet some companies will tell you that natural means anything that originated somewhere on earth – no matter what has been done to it in a laboratory.

Sadly, the beauty care products industry is notoriously under-regulated. And sometimes dangerous chemical and synthetic additives are used in the processing of cosmetics.

The National Organic Programs in America and in the U. K. remain vague about when and whether organic personal care products will be held to the same standards as organic foods. In the meantime, many beauty care manufactures have seized on the ‘organic’ label as a marketing tactic, heralding their products as natural and organic when their bottles are filled with synthetic, often dangerous, chemicals.

"Nowhere do the terms 'natural' and 'organic' take more of a bruising than in the beauty industry," according to New Vegetarian and Natural Health publications. "Most cosmetic companies utilising the term 'organic' on their label are using the chemistry definition of organic - meaning a compound which contains carbon... By using this definition they can say that a toxic petrochemical preservative such as Methyl Paraben is 'organic' because it was formed by leaves that rotted over thousands of years to become oil."

The growth of the natural beauty care industry has not slowed the market for chemical additives for such products. In fact, the chemical companies expect to profit hugely from the trend. "The incorporation of active ingredients, such as plant acids and enzymes, into toiletries and cosmetics has become a major force behind growth in an otherwise mature industry," according to a chemical industry analyst from the Freedonia Group in the U.S.A. chemicals in our foodstuffs, in our kitchens, our bedrooms, our bathrooms and most definitely in our beauty and skin care products.

Bear in mind too, that there is really no such thing as 100% organic. 95% is the maximum certification recognised in South Africa and even that is questionable as it’s not realistic in the polluted world we live in. Where even if every ingredient is certified organic we still have to consider pollution fallout, Genetically Modified, chemically fertilized & sprayed plants being grown next to (and contaminating) fields of organically grown crops; contaminated underground water, “acid rain” and a host of other nasties in our soil, air and water which is reality in the 21 st century. Even essential oils distilled from organically grown and organically certified plants in Europe have shown residues of chemical pesticides under testing.

Unwittingly, consumers are paying high prices for ‘organic’ products under the misconception that they are materially different to the non-organic products on the shelf. Some beauty care manufacturers have even set out to develop their own standards for organic processing, with many insisting that their products simply cannot be made in a manner compliant with existing organic standards - and wanting to list hundreds of synthetic processing ingredients as allowable for organic personal care.

So for now, some ‘organic’ personal care products using toxic ingredients or misleading labels may continue to crowd the shelves of health shops, spas and beauty salons. Because unfortunately within the Organic Certification industry there is a considerable amount of "green washing" going on - which put bluntly, is the art of deceiving the consumer into thinking that because the ingredient is Certified Organic, it is safe to use.    Yes, it is true that it may be grown or produced without the use of chemicals in an “organic” way but does that render it safe to put onto the human skin? Not necessarily so.